French

Using Nouns

Gender of Nouns by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert

One of the biggest differences you'll notice between French and English is the use of gender. Each noun in French has a feminine or masculine gender. This a linguistic trait inherited from Latin, where there could be three categories of gender: masculine, feminine, and neuter. French has only two: masculine and feminine.

The gender designation in French is rather arbitrary. There isn't necessarily much logic as to whether a noun will be masculine or feminine. There are some general pointers but in the end, the advice is always the same: Memorize the gender of a word as you learn it.

Don't get confused about the concept of gender in French. It refers only to the noun as a word. Although in many instances when referring to a person, the gender will correspond to that person's sex (une femme, un homme, for example), in general, gender is a grammatical concept and has nothing to do with the biological sex of the object or person involved. For example, un professeur can be either a male or a female teacher, but the word professeur is linguistically masculine.

The gender of a noun is important to know; it affects how the word is used and how other words are used along with it.

In this book, nouns are presented with the article (or, if the article is ambiguous, you'll find a small “m” for masculine and a small “f” for feminine nouns).

While there are no rules about determining the gender of nouns, the majority of French words follow a consistent gender pattern. In addition to the noun's article, the ending can sometimes help you determine the proper gender of a noun.

Masculine Nouns

Here are some endings that generally indicate that the noun is masculine. Listen to the CD for their pronunciation.

TRACK 26

Table 5-1

Masculine Nouns

Nouns Ending in -aire
le dictionnaire	dictionary
le propriétaire	owner
le vocabulaire	vocabulary
la grammaire Exception to this ending.	grammar
Nouns Ending in -asme and -isme
le sarcasme	sarcasm
l'optimisme	optimism
le pessimisme	pessimism
le tourisme	tourism
Nouns Ending in -eau
le bateau	boat
le bureau	office
le chapeau	hat
le manteau	coat
Nouns Ending in -et
l'alphabet	alphabet
le billet	ticket
l'objet	object
le sujet	subject
Nouns Ending in -in
le magasin	shop
le matin	morning
le vin	wine
Nouns Ending in -ent
l'accent	accent
l'accident	accident
l'argent	money
Nouns Ending in -oir
l'espoir	hope
le miroir	mirror
le rasoir	razor
le soir	evening.

Feminine Nouns

Here are some endings that generally indicate that the noun is feminine. Listen to the CD for their pronunciation.

TRACK 27

Table 5-2

Feminine Nouns

Nouns Ending in -ade
la limonade	lemonade
la parade	parade
la promenade	walk
la salade	salad
Nouns Ending in -son
la maison	house
la raison	reason
la saison	season
Nouns Ending in -ance
l'assistance	assistance
la balance	scale
la chance	chance
la naissance	birth
Nouns Ending in -ence
la différence	difference
l'essence	gasoline
la science	science
la sentence	sentence
le silence Exception to this ending.	silence
Nouns Ending in -ande
la commande	command
la demande	request
la viande	meat
Nouns Ending in -ise
l'église	church
la fraise	strawberry
la surprise	surprise
la valise	suitcase
Nouns Ending in -son
la boisson	drink
la prison	prison
la chanson	song
Nouns Ending in -té
la beauté	beauty
la cité	city
la liberté	liberty
la nationalité	nationality
le côté Exception to this ending.	side
l'été Exception to this ending.	summer
Nouns Ending in -tié
l'amitié	friendship
la moitié	half
la pitié	pity
Nouns Ending in -ude
l'étude	study
l'habitude	habit
la solitude	solitude
Nouns Ending in -ture
l'aventure	adventure
la ceinture	belt
la culture	culture
la facture	invoice
la nourriture	food, nourishment
la grammaire	grammar

Some Special Gender Notes

As a rule, most French nouns have a specific gender. Some nouns, however, can use either gender but have two different meanings, depending on the particular gender used.

Table 5-3

Nouns with Different Gender Meanings

Masculine	English	Feminine	English
le livre	book	la livre	pound
le poste	position	la poste	mail, postal service
le vase	vase	la vase	mud, slime

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French

Gender of Nouns by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert

Masculine Nouns

Masculine Nouns

Feminine Nouns

Feminine Nouns

Some Special Gender Notes

Nouns with Different Gender Meanings

THE EVERYTHING LEARNING FRENCH BOOK

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